


Ice Cream and Lipstick

by MistyBeethoven



Series: Cupid Poirot [1]
Category: Agatha Christie's Poirot (TV)
Genre: Beaches, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Ice Cream, Lipstick, Love, Peril at End House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 21:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19118299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistyBeethoven/pseuds/MistyBeethoven
Summary: Arthur Hastings and Miss Lemon get ice cream.





	Ice Cream and Lipstick

Walking back with the ice cream, Miss Felicity Lemon was obviously upset.

"Why did Mr. Poirot send us to get ice cream when he was sitting _so_ far away from the stand?" she complained.

Captain Arthur Hastings, his own hands full with the cold treat simply shrugged. "I'll be damned if I know."

The man frowned as he suddenly remembered Poirot's previous comments during their investigations at End House. His employer and friend obviously did not value his deductive skills. Wishing to prove to himself that the man was wrong, his mind searched for an answer to Miss Lemon's question.

"I daresay, maybe he wanted a few moments alone with Inspector Japp."

Miss Lemon stopped and looked at Hastings. "Whatever possibly for?"

Arthur opened his mouth and shut it again. He could not think of a possible explanation. Well certainly not one he was exactly comfortable with.

"Maybe he wanted us to be alone together," Arthur said, his mind bouncing to another option.

"We're on a crowded beach," Miss Lemon said. "I'd hardly call this alone."

Arthur looked around. The secretary was right. Still he thought there was something to the idea. "Well we've been working together for quite some time now. The old boy has made it a point to leave us by ourselves quite a few times, if I can recall."

"He has," Miss Lemon said remembering.

"I was wondering if it was all a ploy. You know, like he intentionally is hoping that..."

"Are you suggesting that Mr. Poirot is attempting to play cupid?" Miss Lemon's large eyes became saucers.

Hastings had a sudden image of Hercule Poirot as a chubby cherub with a bow and a hearted dart. The image horrified him more than the reason why the man would have wanted to be alone with Japp.

Pushing the ill thought away, Hastings looked at Miss Lemon. She looked very pretty in her dress and hat holding the two ice cream cones. Then again, he had always found her incredibly attractive; he had only been afraid to tell her.

Suddenly he realized how much he had always secretly fancied the red head. Maybe his friend had always known about his secret little crush. The damn man seemed to be so aware of everything else!

Perhaps this had been Poirot's way of giving him the opportunity to act on it.

Hastings felt his heart racing. Surely he had to be wrong again; just another mistake in the vast ocean of Captain Arthur Hastings wrong deductions.

But it didn't help matters when Miss Lemon took a lick from her ice cream and his head was filled with a whole slew of naughty ideas he was finally comfortable with.

Suddenly feeling brave, Arthur Hastings leaned in and quickly kissed his co-worker's lips, tasting a mixture of ice cream and lipstick for his effort.

"Captain Hastings!" Miss Lemon exclaimed. "Because my hands are full I won't slap you but I must insist you behave yourself next time!"

"I'm most dreadfully sorry! I was just thinking..."

"Well I like it when you don't think," she said. "Mr. Poirot is a know-it-all enough for one office, I thank you."

"Really," Arthur smiled happily, grateful she liked that he wasn't on their employees level of intellect.

"And I think I _we_ can handle finding our own time to be alone together instead of relying on him and his overactive little Belgian mind, don't you?"

"Most _certainly_!" Hastings grinned.

"How about my place when we get back?" she said, her face as stern as ever. "Sixish?"

"Well I say!" Arthur beamed.

"Now let's get back before all we're holding is four puddles of what used to be ice cream in four soggy cones."

She started to walk ahead, preventing him from seeing the smile that was spreading across her face.


End file.
